The Teaching and Learning Framework defines curriculum as the work and learning of students. It involves instructional planning on the part of the teacher, the use of effective instructional strategies with students, and ongoing assessment of student learning. Curriculum provides students, teachers and parents with clear goals and targets for achievement. Out of this grows the work of teachers: instructional planning and delivery, and assessment practices that will support students in their development and learning.

Planning for Student Success begins with a focus on student-centered classrooms. Teachers build unit and lesson plans incorporating a variety of assessments with student-centered learning as a foundational framework. Thinking skills and strategies are at the center of student learning.

Key Points in Student-Centered Learning

Students benefit when they help to design/implement instruction and assessment.

Decisions about instruction are based on assessments of what students already know and can do.

There is a strong connection between what students are learning in class with applications in the world beyond the classroom.

Characteristics of Student-Centered Learning

Ongoing reflection on assessment of standards and learning

Student choice

Relevant connections to the world

Collaboration

Student involvement in planning

Student interests and needs at the center of instruction

Student awareness of the importance of their learning:

What am I doing?

Why am I doing it?

What am I learning?

How will I show my learning to others?

The teacher’s first step in curriculum planning is to develop a comprehensive plan for the units of study students will engage in over the course of the school year. With a yearlong plan in mind, the teacher designs specific units to help students reach the standards set in the Teaching and Learning Framework.

The Lake Washington School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, gender, marital status, creed, religion, honorably discharged veteran, military status, sexual orientation including gender expression or identity, the presence of any sensory, mental or physical disability, or the use of a trained guide dog or service animal by a person with a disability, in its programs and activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups.
Complete policy statement